The sublime slowness which has propelled Bohren & Der Club of Gore for over
20 years is in good health. Returning with the suggestively titled Piano Nights,
Bohren have not departed from their obdurate approach, yet in its title, much
is revealed about the content. In to their sound has subtly crept the presence
of a giant, and the name of the album shows nothing but exemplary respect for
the instrument which governs here – the piano.

Inadvertently born out of Christopher Clöser’s
boredom before a concert in Moscow, Piano Nights started as an idea when he
tinkered with a grand piano, and resonated with the sheer depth and enormity of
the instrument. Proving to be too
noble, too powerful, what you
hear on this album is not a grand piano, instead, they chose to utilise the
sound of a Yahama electric – more ambiguous, less lofty and most significantly,
not quite so serious. Energy is instantaneously channelled into sonic space
through the interplay of piano, organ and vibraphone, governed solely by the
Bohren laws which dictate the intense appreciation of slowness. The band has
worked meticulously on this sonic space, uncovering some new and interesting
aspects within their familiar aesthetic, and within themselves as musicians.

The four musicians, who consider Piano Nights
to be their best album since Black
Earth, are at pains to stress than the album title is not satirical, but
a standard, a framework they set themselves. Considering their intermediary
2011 release Beileid, with its
standout cover of Warlock’s ‘Catch my
Heart’ (complete with vocals from antihero extraordinaire, Mike Patton),
the routes open to Bohren were multiple and myriad. In this context, Piano Nights
actually appears to be something of a return to their roots, albeit based on
complex arrangements and a broader palette of sound. Packing in the sounds of
mellotron, vibraphone, organ, saxophone, bass, drum, spirit choir – Bohren
actively resist and refute the trappings of the word ambient, their instinctive
musicianship creating the most slender of jazz; understated in its virtuosity,
ambiguous in its transparency. Every minutiae, every fleck of colour, every
spark and snap of percussion has the meticulous knowledge and unlimited
patience of Der Club of Gore behind it – yet, unfathomable and beyond
calculation, Bohren’s music is something which is best enjoyed and accepted.
Sidestepping the pitfalls of routine and familiarity, Piano Nights poses the question of what
to do when the acoustic information being relayed to you is outside of the
parameters in which you can process? The answer, is to trust yourself, and let
it wash over you – give it time, plenty of time, and you will see.

They are confirmed to play in London on Saturday
5th April at St John On Bethnal Green.

Bohren &
Der Club of Gore. Not much can be said that hasn’t been said before, the group
are simply as consistent as the seasons.The soundtrack to a thousand lost film noir classics, a late night bus
ride through sprawling urban decay, and a tragic love story filmed in black and
white.

Bohren know
what they do, and quite simply, they are and most likely will remain the best
at it. With every release they subtly add a new element, albeit discreetly, to
an unwavering formula. You may wonder what a band so steeped in noir jazz and
soundtrack work is doing featuring on The Sludgelord, but that would be to miss
the point.

The trio
wield such an unforgettable mastery over slow motion laments of loss, mystery,
intrigue and despair that they can appeal to even the most hardened of doom and
sludge fans, whilst remaining true to their own sonic path. As with fellow
masters of snail-paced melancholia, Warning, the sheer heaviness of Bohren’s
work comes from the space in between the notes. The atmosphere, thick with the smoky
aroma of cigarettes and whisky found in a thousand jazz club basements, is
where Piano Nights excels.

Adding far
more noticeable touches of electric piano has accentuated the choral, church
like nature of the music, allowing the usual beds of ambience to float eerily
past with every reverberating note. Sometimes during Piano Nights, the upfront
piano and bass work will allow you to hang on a moment of uplifting joy, a
chord progression that lifts you from the dystopian turmoil and melancholia
prevalent in almost all of their recorded work and it feels as epic as any
musical climax from Sigur Ros or Mogwai. The only difference being ,this is
simply one bar of a song, and the band consist of a keyboardist, up-right bass
player, saxophonist and drummer.

And that is
where the true genius of Piano Nights (and Bohren & Der club of Gore in
general) lies, in the bands ability to pull and push your emotions at will,
even whilst crawling at a pace usually reserved for the bleakest of funeral
doom.

Every album
by these guys is a journey, and Piano Nights is no exception. It’s the same
Bohren on Piano Nights as on every past release, but maybe this time they
pushing you towards the light at the end of the tunnel, with a sound as
timeless as the instrument that inspired the album.

Band Submissions

To those bands who have recently issued their first demo or album via bandcamp and would like to be featured on our 666 Pack Review or considered for a full review or stream please contact Aaron via email including your EPK, band bio, album file or download code, including artwork.

To those bands issuing their sophomore record and so on and would like to be considered for a review or stream on the blog. Get in touch using the same address above

We will consider bands from any genre but exclusively stoner, sludge, doom, psych, post-metal, experimental, black-metal etc. (Whilst I would like to respond to every email, this is not always possible.) Thanks